"My beloved people of Faram Orbius, and to all who live in the galaxy." The queen began as thirteen kneeled just a step below her platform. "The black hole has been vanquished and the galaxy has been saved. This is the fruit of those who love their planets and protect them to the fullest. And the ones who lent us great strength are those who came from the distant blue planet of Earth, the Earth Eleven. Let us shower them with our praise!"
As the crowd cheered, she began to distribute flower crowns to the team.
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"This has taught me that no matter what happens from here on, anything can be accomplished when all planets unite as one. Let us continue to protect this peace!"
The official ceremony that was broadcasted ended just like that, but the party went on with laughter and cheers and food. Tenma had at some point given his flower crown to Aoi, and yelled at the top of his lungs his confession...
To the sport that brought them here.
Typical Tenma... She had a small smile as she watched the banquet go on for a while. But upon locking eyes with her best friend, and getting a small nod at that, she let out a rather exasperated sigh and made her way up to the throne.
"Hm? Kimiko?" The queen turned to face her just as she made it to the top. "How can I help you?"
She shook her head. "No... I just... needed to say something..."
"Oh? You may continue, then."
I'm not exactly asking for permission anyway. She kept herself from snapping back by taking a deep breath. Then, she bowed. "I'm sorry for accusing you of kidnapping Kyousuke. King Acrous told us everything, and we got some extra details from Princess Katora too. Ozrock was the one responsible for all of that, so... I'm sorry."
"Oh, no! Please don't worry about it! I―"
"Then, I won't." She knew it was rude to interrupt, but she couldn't help it. That was as much as she was willing to talk about it at that moment. Even though she apologized, she was still pissed at her for keeping him there. Without letting another word in, she left for the hallway.
~~~~~
"You go talk to her."
"Me? But I―"
"The sooner the better, right? And I think she'd rather see you than me right now anyway."
"That's impossible." Please, no...
"Not at this moment, it's not. She's mad at me too, with how much I sided with Lalaya these past few days." Amber eyes bore through his crimson ones. "Right now, you're probably the only one she'll listen to."
Please don't give me that kind of hope...
He knew that wasn't his intention, and yet...
He turned towards the door before glancing back at the ace striker. Getting a gesture signaling for him to go, he hesitantly followed the blonde out the door.
It took a bit of scouring, but he managed to find her at a balcony not too far away.
"Kimiko-san―"
"If you try to drag me back into the same room as that queen, I'm jumping off this balcony."
"Wh―?!"
"That's both a promise and a threat."
O... Okay then... "I was... just going to offer some food..."
That was when she finally turned to face him, her face completely expressionless until she saw the two plates he had in his hands. He inwardly sighed while mentally patting himself on the back for the call to grab some stuff off the table before coming out as he watched her face lit up ever so slightly.
She took one and observed it like some specimen. "What are these?"
"I'm not quite sure of their names, but I heard Kusaka-san and Tetsukado-san saying that it tastes like beef steak."
"And these?"
"Perhaps their salad?"
"And this one?"
"That... To me, that appears to be some sort of dipping sauce..."
"Huh... Alright, well, if this doesn't kill me, then something else will."
It took everything he had in him to stop himself from overreacting. Though he had to wonder, what was with her and morbid jokes today?
"Bad influence from my brother, sorry."
Ah, right, she can still read my mind...
"Yup."
Ack―
Her features softened into a wry smile. "Well, thanks for the food."
"Of course."
They stayed standing as they ate. It was mostly silent aside from the sound of the wind and Faram Orbius' equivalent of birds chirping around. He first found it strange as he hadn't seen any of those creatures when they first arrived, but he soon realized that it was perhaps because of the black hole. Now that the threat in the sky is gone, all walks of life are able to return to their true routines.
"Sorry." She suddenly blurted out.
"Eh? What for?"
"For dropping the '-san' suffix back in the finals."
"Ichikawa!" His eyes snapped open when her voice entered his ears. "Stop holding yourself back! It'll only hurt you! Let everything out! Your spirit, your emotions, everything that makes you what you are!"
Oh, that... "I don't mind. After all, you do so with everyone else on the team. I've always found it a little strange that you didn't do the same with me."
"It's because you're also really formal to everyone, so I felt the need to be respectful in return..." She sighed. "And I made the mistake of calling all of Raimon's first years by their first names with no suffixes just because of how I keep calling Kyousuke 'Kyou', so like... Yeah. I'm lucky none of them minded, but I didn't know if you'd be the same. And you're a third year student too."
"So is Kusaka-san."
"Kusaka isn't formal with anyone though, so it was a lot easier to ask."
He supposed that was fair. But did that mean that if he wasn't so... like this... he could've...?
"Ichikawa-san?"
"It's alright." He gave her a smile. "I don't mind whatever name you wish to call me by. The captain and many others called me by my first name immediately upon meeting. Those like Matatagi-san and Ibuki-san are a year younger, and yet they also don't use any formalities with me. You don't have to force yourself to do the same."
"I'm not exactly forcing myself..." she let out a chuckle. "But does that mean I have the green light to call you just 'Ichikawa'?"
"Of course."
"Then, Ichikawa it is!" She said as she took her last bite. "Mm... These are pretty good. The sauce thing is a bit weird, but maybe it's because I expected it to be more salty than sweet. I guess that's just this planet's taste buds though, since the vending machine drinks I tried were also really sweet."
He remembered her mentioning something along those lines before, though he couldn't quite recall when.
... Actually, how was she able to buy from this planet's vending machines in the first place?
"The queen gave me a pouch of their coins as thanks for saving them from the prison."
Oh.
Right.
That happened.
He also vaguely remembered being told something about that after the finals and Ozrock's second declaration of war.
"Kyou must've had a field day when he first got here though."
And of course, as all conversations with her would go, she started talking about her... best friend.
"He loves sweets more than I do. You wouldn't expect it from that face and personality, but he doesn't just have a sweet tooth. He's practically got an entire row of sweet teeth!"
"That... is not how that phrase works."
"But you get my point, right?"
"I do."
"Then, that's all that matters." Suddenly, she let out an exasperated sigh. "Really, what a dumbass... Putting himself through all that for people he barely knew..."
?
"Not to mention the number of times he's put his own life in danger... If you're gonna scold me about that, then the least you could do is keep yourself away from it first, stupid!"
This is what Tsurugi-san meant when he said she was mad at him...
They were so alike. It was almost impossible to tell where their hearts differ.
Upon that realization, his own sunk further along with any candle of hope he held when he first walked out here.
He knew from the beginning that he was resigning himself to a cruel fate, and yet... and yet...
"Ichikawa?" Innocent, curious, purple eyes appeared wide in front of his own. "Is something wrong―"
"Kimiko-san, I like you." He blurted out without second thought.
No theatrics, no dramatics... Just straight and simple. Very unlike him.
But when was he ever his usual self when in her presence?
Seeing her stunned reaction, his mouth opened again. "I... I don't quite know when it first started... I just know that I've been curious about you since we first met. After that... You were the first to support me as I broke free from the shackles I didn't even realize I had. You saw the true me before anyone else did, and I... I want to be the same for you."
The moment of silence that came right after he finished was the most excruciating moment he's ever been through. And what came after was...
"I-I'm sorry..."
Of course.
"I just... I see you as a friend, or a brother figure at most, but... Thank you... To think someone would see me that way... Just... Thanks... and I'm sorry..."
Strangely enough, his heart felt light. "I knew you would say that. I never expected you to accept it. I just wanted to be honest, and I knew that you wouldn't think of it as a burden, so that also eased my worries."
"Yeah, of course." She scratched the back of her neck. "I also just... I've never experienced romantic love before, so I don't know what that's supposed to feel like. I only know how I feel towards my friends and family, and... Well, what I feel for you isn't different from them, so I... Yeah..."
"I understand. And please do not overthink it. This does not change anything. I still think of you as my trainer and friend. I am not the least bit upset by your answer."
"A-Alright..."
It was a little funny how she sighed in relief after that.
However...
"Kimiko-san, about what you said earlier."
"Eh?"
"Have you truly never felt anything different towards anyone?"
Her eyes narrowed as she gave him a look. "Are you going to nudge me about Kyousuke too?"
"'Too'?" He was glad to know it wasn't just him, but she made it sound like hundreds of people had. For obvious reasons, but still...
"Raimon's done it, friends in the future have done it, my family's done it... Hell, 'Who hasn't done it?' should be the real question."
"And it doesn't make you think at all?"
"Look, Kyousuke is the first friend I've ever had. We've been through just about everything together, and it's been just the two of us for years. Of course I'd see him differently than everyone else!" She huffed. "But it's not like that anymore. We've got new friends, new people in our lives in general, so... Just because we've been together all this time, doesn't mean we have to be together for the rest of our lives."
He couldn't deny that line of thought with logic alone, but the tone she spoke with sounded more like she was trying to convince herself instead of him.
"I think he would enjoy your lifelong company, though." He finally spoke.
That got a chuckle out of her. "Maybe. Every sane part of his brain's been fried after all."
"Are you saying that normal people wouldn't enjoy your stay?"
"If even Kyou just barely survived spending 24/7 with me, I doubt anyone else in the world could."
They continued their talk for a while longer, finding no reason to part until the closest star sunk below the horizon.